Museum of the American Railroad explained
Museum of the American Railroad |
Former Name: | Southwest Railroad Historical Society, Age Of Steam Railway Museum |
Established: | 1963 |
Location: | Frisco, Texas, United States |
Type: | 501(C) Not For Profit |
Collections: | Railway Rolling Stock and Historic Railroad Buildings |
President: | Bob LaPrelle |
Ceo: | "see president" |
Publictransit: | Frisco Shuttle Busses |
Parking: | Frisco Discovery Center |
The Museum of the American Railroad, formerly known as the Age of Steam Railroad Museum, is a railroad museum in Frisco, Texas.[1] The museum has more than 70 pieces of steam, diesel, passenger, and freight railroad equipment sitting on 15 acres making it one of the largest historic rail collections in the US. Guests may walk through some of the equipment on guided tours.
History
The museum began as a small exhibit at Fair Park in 1963, and continued as a staple of the annual State Fair of Texas. It officially became a museum in 1986,[2] remaining at its original site until November 2011.[3] The museum has fully moved to Frisco, Texas;[4] the move was based on a strategic plan, called Visions 2006, which called for a comprehensive reorganization of the museum, including new facilities, new governance and new programs.[5] The museum's offices and some exhibits are temporarily housed at the Frisco Heritage Museum while construction continues on the museum's new location two blocks south.[3]
TrainTopia, a G scale model train layout, opened in July 2018 in the Frisco Discovery Center next to the museum's site. An additional O-scale layout is being reassembled.
Collection
The collection includes:
Locomotives
Steam
Diesel
- Southern Pacific #2379: Fairbanks Morse H12-44 Built 1956 (Operational)
- Colorado & Wyoming #1107: Baldwin VO-1000 Built 1943 (Operational)
- Union Pacific #6913: EMD DDA40X Built 1969
- United States Army #8000: ALCO RSD-1 Built 1942 (Originally an ALCO RS-1 built for New York, Susquehanna & Western as #231, rebuilt by ALCO as one of the first RSD-1s) (Operational)
- Santa Fe #49: EMD F7 Built 1952 (formerly Canadian National #9167, repainted into Santa Fe Red Warbonnet colors in 2006) (Operational)
- BNSF #97: EMD SDFP45 Built 1967 (Formerly Santa Fe EMD FP45 #107) Rebuilt in 1982 and reclassified as SDFP45. (Under Restoration)
- Santa Fe #M-160: Doodlebug Built by J. G. Brill Company in 1931. Re-engined in 1952 by AT&SF with an EMD 6-567B. (Operational)
- Santa Fe #2404: EMC NW2, built in July, 1939
- Santa Fe #2260: Baldwin Locomotive Works DS4-4-1000, built February, 1948
- Santa Fe #608: Fairbanks-Morse H12-44, built November, 1951
- Santa Fe #59L: American Locomotive Company PA-1 Built 1948, now under restoration. Also known as Delaware and Hudson Railway #16 and Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México #DH-16
- Santa Fe #2428: Santa Fe CF7
- Santa Fe #2447: Santa Fe CF7
- Asarco #10: Whitcomb Locomotive Company 1945 Class 8-DM-67 (21 inch (Hunt) gauge)
- Southern Pacific #MW8209: EMD F7B 1949 (Originally SP #6151C, renumbered when converted for snow plow service) (Under Cosmetic Restoration)
- Vulcan Materials Company Plymouth Locomotive Works: Model ML8 1943 (30-ton)
Electric
Passenger equipment
Sleepers
- Amtrak #2997: (Ex-AT&SF 1642 "Pine Ring") Budd 10-Roomette, 6-Double bedroom, Built 1950
- Amtrak #2913: "Pacific Gardens" (Ex-UP #1417) Budd Originally a 10-Roomette, 6-Double bedroom. Converted to crew lounge/dorm by Amtrak, Built 1950
- Amtrak #2090: Budd Slumbercoach Built 1959. Originally Missouri Pacific #699 "Southland" then bought by Northern Pacific and ran as #329 "Loch Tarbet".
- Amtrak #2532: (Ex-B&O 7102 "Gull") Budd 16-Duplex roomette, 4-Double bedroom, Built 1954
- Pullman Company "Glengyle" :7-Compartment, 2- Drawing Room, Earliest known surviving heavyweight all steel sleeping car, built by Pullman in 1911[6]
- Pullman Company "Goliad": 12-Open section, 1-Drawing room, Built 1926. Served almost exclusively on Southern Pacific's Sunset Limited. One of the first cars air-conditioned in the 1930s[7]
- Pullman Company "Glen Nevis": 6-Compartment, 3-Drawing Room, Built 1925
- Pullman Company "McQuaig": 12-Open section, 1-Drawing room, Built 1925
Coaches
Lounges
Diners
Other
Transit Equipment
Metra Electric District (Ex-Illinois Central Railroad) "Stream-Liner" Built by St. Louis Car Company (First order #1501-1630, 1971-1972) and Bombardier Transportation (Second order #1631-1666, 1978-1979) (All Operational)
- 1548
- 1552
- 1601
- 1608
- 1661
- And five more
Freight equipment
- Kansas City Southern #7460: single sheathed boxcar
- Kansas City Southern Lines #107859: boxcar
- Lone Star Producing Company #1817: tank car
- Western Pacific Railroad #68652: boxcar
- Texas & Pacific Railroad #X4446: boxcar
- Packers Car Line (Armour & Company) PCX 4063: Ice Refrigerator Car
- Packers Car Line (Armour & Company) PCX 4005: Ice Refrigerator Car
- Genesee & Wyoming Railroad #GNWR 1032: Mechanical Refrigerator Car
Cabooses
Speeders/Handcars
Structures
- Houston & Texas Central Railroad Depot, ca. 1905
- Houston & Texas Central Railroad Handcar Shed, Dallas, TX ca. 1905
- Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad Interlocking Tower 19
Road vehicles
Formerly owned equipment
- Texas & Northern bobber caboose
- Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority PCC #3329
- New Orleans Public Service Incorporated Electric Streetcar #919
- Econo-Rail Inc., Procter & Gamble Plant, Dallas, TX #PG 13: S-2 Diesel Locomotive
- Econo-Rail Inc., Houston, TX #E-R 10: S-6 Diesel Locomotive
TrainTopia
The museum has an exhibit called "TrainTopia – A Railroad Odyssey in Miniature" in the Frisco Discovery Center next to the museum.[8] This is a 2,500-square-foot professionally-built G scale model railroad layout donated to the museum by the Sanders family;[9] a $300,000 donation from the Ryan Foundation funded moving the layout and preparing the exhibit space.[10] The scene spans Texas to Arizona, and includes details such as the dramatic rock formations of the Four Corners region near New Mexico, an animated downtown Dallas street scene, the Palo Duro Drive-In Theater with a movie playing, a West Texas refinery, and working sawmills in Colorado. A custom light show changes the exhibit from day to night. The layout has hundreds of locomotives and cars, most made by LGB in Germany.
See also
External links
33.1445°N -96.8334°W
Notes and References
- Lettenberger. Bob. Trains. Kalmbach Media. 46–47. Museum of the American Railroad focusing on mission fulfillment. 9 Vol 83. September 2023.
- Web site: Museum of the American Railroad > About Us > Our History . 2023-08-26 .
- Web site: Museum of the American Railroad . Museumoftheamericanrailroad.org. 25 November 2021.
- News: History hits the tracks as railroad museum moves to Frisco. The Dallas Morning News. Wigglesworth, Valerie. September 1, 2012. https://archive.today/20131109200128/http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/frisco/headlines/20120901-museums-move-to-frisco-means-prized-collection-of-locomotives-train-cars-to-hit-the-tracks-again.ece. 9 November 2013. 9 November 2013. live.
- Web site: Visions 2006: A Concept for the Future. Museumoftheamericanrailroad.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20110725145937/http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/Portals/0/Visions_Web.pdf. July 25, 2011.
- Web site: Pullman Sleeping Car Glengyle. Asme.org. en. 2019-07-14.
- Web site: Museum of the American Railroad > Collection > Collection Overview. Museumoftheamericanrailroad.org. 2019-07-14.
- Web site: TrainTopia Tickets! . Museumoftheamericanrailroad.org. November 2, 2019 . February 12, 2020.
- Web site: Sanders Family of North Dallas Donates Spectacular Model Train Layout . Museumoftheamericanrailroad.org . February 17, 2017 . February 12, 2020.
- Web site: Amanda and Brint Ryan Fund Reconstruction of Model Train Layout . Museumoftheamericanrailroad.org. December 13, 2017 . February 12, 2020.